Bottle-filling machine.



A. F. WOOD & A. G. STEER.

BOTTLBFILLING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY e, 1910` Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L A. F. WOOD L A. G. STEER.

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 19101 Patented sep1;.2,1913.`

2 SHEETS-SHEET UNTTED STATES PATENT ciertos.

ALFRED r; Woon AND ALFRED e. STEEN, or LANsDoWNE, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIeNons To THE Damm/mns SUPPLY COMPANY, or LANSDOWNE, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA. l

BOTTLE-FILLING MACHINE.

b all 'whom 'it may concern Be it known that we, ALFRED F. loon and Anrinnrtl. STEER, citizens of the United States, residing in Landsdowne, county of Delaware, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain improvements in Bottle-Filling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

One object of our invention is to provide au improved machine of relatively simple anal substantial construction whereby a number ot' sets ot' bottles carried in a suit-able case may be successively filled with liquid; the various parts of the machine being designed especially with a View to permit of their being easily maintained in a perfectly sanitary conditmn as well as to permit of the greatest. convenience of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of' thegeneral type above noted, with bottle filling mechanism of relatively simple construction which shall possess but few parts and shall be ot' such design as to permit. of' each filling valve and its associated parts being lowered to contact with a bottle, instead of requiring that the bottle be lifted toward the valve, as has hitherto been the case, in machines of the same class.

te further desire to provide a bottle filling machine having means for simultaneously filling a number of bottles; the con- ,struction being such that the filling tubes with their valve may be lowered into engagement with successive sets of bottles and be thereafter operated to admit liquid into said bottles without requiring upward movement ofthe latter.

te also wish to provide a bottle filling machine of such construction that its parts may be readily and quickly adjusted to per mit of the machine being used to fill bottles et ditlerent sizes and capacities; the invention also contemplating novel means for feeding a bottle-containing case by a series of steps to bring successive sets of bottles under the filling tubes.

Again we desire that the construction shall be such that, the possibility of breakage of the bottles from any cause shall be done away with to a great extent.

These objects and otherl advantageous ends we secure as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the" accompanying drawings, in Which;- y

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Application filed May 6, 1910. Serial No. 559,787.

Patented Sept. 2,1913.

F igure 1, is a side elevation of a bottle filling machine constructed according to our invention; Fig. 2, is a front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. l; Fig. 3, is a vertical section on the line (1f-tz, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, is a vertical section on an enlarged scale, illustrating the detail construction of one of the filling tubes with its valve in a closed i position; Fig. 5, is a fragmentary vertical section of the lower end of' one oi the filling tubes, showing the valve in its open posi-1 tion; Fig. (l, is a perspective view illustrating the construction ot' a portion of the adjustable slide; Fig. 7, is a perspective view of the adjustable rack and pusherfor intermittently feeding forward the case containing the bottles to be filled; Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views illustrating the construction of the cross and locking bars for controlling the fillin tubes; Fig. 10, is a perspective view of tI e slides and the bearings carried thereby; Fig. 1l, is a erspective view of a modification of the va ve supo.- be filled, and this tank is supported at a suitable height upon a frame consisting, in the present instance, of four uprights 2, suitably,bracedogether and having at their top a reinforcing plate 3 for carrying and properly supporting said tank.

On each of the uprights 2 is fixed a collar el, preferably held in place, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, by set scrinvs,land each 'having a projecting arm or lug 5 to which is pivot/ed a link 6. An elongated guide 7' is pivotally connected to each of the links G on each side of the frame in such manner as to extend from front to rear of the machine. Thcse guides, which are preferably L-shapcd in section, are arranged as shown in Fig. (3, so as to serve as a slideway for the boxes or cases X in which are contained the bottles Y to be filled. These are rigidly connected to each other by transverse braces or bars 8 and 13 and the collars 4 are so made to have arms or projections whereby said guides may be supported in the position shown in full lilies in Fig. l. On the other hand; when the links 6 are moved upwardly, they may be held in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig; 1', by catches bottles therein, while when lsaid guides are Y:swung upwardly so that the links 6 are substantially vertical, the case is in such posi- -tion as to bring the pint bottles into the proper positions to suitably coperate with the `filling tubes.

It will be understood that the bottles in a ease are usually arranged in 'a number of parallel rows, and in the machine illustrated, we have shown a machine designed to simultaneously fill four bottles; the case being intended to hold three such rows of four bottles each.' ln view of this arrangement it is necessary to provide means whereby the different rows of bottles may be successively brought under the row of filling tubesand for this purpose we provide a feeding de vice for the case which consists of a head 9 having projecting arms 10 and 1'1, preferably of unequal length, and mounted on the forward end of a ratchet bar 12 of cir cular section. This bar is designed to `be supported in and longitudinally movable through, a pair ofA bearings 13 formed in transverse bars 13l carried by the caseguides 7 and has formed in it a series of notches 14 designed to be in the upper side of said bar when the arms 10 and 11 are in one of their two possible horizontal positions. In a part of the bar 12 opposite these notches 14 are two other notches 14 which are brought uppermost when said bar is turned in itsbearings so as to revolve the arms 10 and 11 1809. For intermittently moving forward this ratchet bar and its pusher formed by said arms, we provide a pawl 15 pivoted to a block 16 slidably mounted on a rod 17 of rectangular section which extends between and is supported by the two transverse bars 13u. Said pawl is so placed as to be capable of engaging whichever set of the notches 111 or 111a is in .its v,lower-most position, and is operative from a foot lever 18 connected to one of its arms by' a linkf19. The bars 1() and 1 1 are made to have different lengths for the purpose of giving a visible and relatively obvious indication to which of the two sets of teeth 14 or 1/11 is in operative position; the bar 11 projecting to the lett, for example, when the teeth '14 are in position to be engaged by the pawl 15. Said foot lever is pivotally mounted onI a cross bar 2O extending between two of the frame members 2, and is normally maintained with its front or treadle arm elevated by means of a spring 21 extending from its second arm to av proe jection on the forward bearing 13 or to some other suitable part of the frame of the machine. i

The filling tubes are preferably of the construction shown in Fig. 4, and each of them includes a threaded bushing 22 screwed into a suitably threaded opening in the bottom of the tank and preferably having a polygonal head for the reception of a wrench. vSecured to each bushing is a tube 23 which extends downwardly therefrom and slidably mounted within this tube 23 is a second tube 2st to whose lower end is fixed a ring 25 carrying a rubber washer or packing ring 26 designed to fit partially into the mouth of a bottle to be filled. Between said ring 25 and the head of the bushing 22 is confined a spring 27 normally tending to force downwardly the ring 25 With its elas tic washer 26. y v

The lower end of the telescoping tube 24 is normally closed by a valveV 28 carried on a hollow rod 29 which serves to permit air to escape from a bottle during filling and' extends centrally upward through said tube 24 to a point adjacent the top of the tank 1. lts .upper end is provided with a head 30 and a transverse bar 31 engages all of the heads 'of the various tubes 29 so that they may be simultaneously operated. The m0vemerit of this cross bar 31 is directed by vertical guides 32 mounted on opposite sides of the tank and we mount a rock shaft 33 in suitable bearings on top of the tank whereby this cross bar may be controlled; providingcranks 34 on said shaft and connecting these to t-he bar 31 by links 35. A third crank arm 36 is also connected to the shaft 33 and said shaft may be rocked at will by means of a treadle 37 pivotally mounted on the shaft 20 and connected to the crank arm 36 by a link 38,although it 'is to be understood thatothrr means may be employed for actuating the rock shaft 33 and its associated parts.

Assuming that it is desired to fill quart bottles, and that these are to be presented to the machine in cases containing three rows o't four each,'we place the case with its bottles on the front of the machine so that it is supported on the slide 7'and move it back under the tank into the position shown in the drawings so that its rear end engages the arms 10 and 11. lt' the tank be supplied with liquid with which the bottles are to be filled, a depression ot' the rear of the treadle 37 will draw downwardly the end of the crank arm 36 (o which the link 38 is attached, thereby rocking the shaft 33 and lowering the cross bar 31 in the tank 1.

The sprin s 27 of the filling tubes, which are norma ly in a compressed condition, are thus allowed to expand so that the tubes 24 are moved downwardly until their elastic packing rings or washers 36 respectively seat on the mouths of the various bottles in the first row of the case. A continuation of the downward movement of the cross bar 31 and hence of the air tubes 2t), permits the valves 28 on said tubes 29 to move downwardly away from the ends of the said tubes 24, thereby opening these latte and permit ting the flow of milk or other liquid from the tank through the tubes into the bottles of the first row; the air escapingr from said bottles through said tubes 29. Vhen the bottles have been filled, a depression of the forward end of the treadle 37 raises the cross bar 31 together with the tubes 29 and the valves 30 thereon, thus causing these lat-- ter to first engage and close the lower ends of the tubes 24 and thereafter to move said tubes upwardly in their respective tubes 23 against the action of the springs 27. In order that the bar 31 with its attached parts may be caused to remain in its elevated position, we bend the links 35 aro-und the shaft 33 as shown in Fig. 3, and so adjust the crank 36 that when the cross bar 31 has been fully raised, the treadle 37 causes the cranks 3st to move slightly past their vertical positions, thereby causing` the downward pull exerted by the various springs Q7, through the hollow rods 29, to act to one side ot a vertical line passing through the center ot the shaft 33. The cross bar 31, as shown in Fig. 8, is ypreferably made with a number of keyhole slots or recesses for the reception of the heads 3() of the various hollow rods 29, and for maintaining said heads in place in their respective recesses, we provide a locking bar 31 detachably held to the cross bar 31 by pins 31". This bar may however be made as shown in Fig. 11 at 3l, so as to have a series of holes 31 of such size as to permit passage of the l.. ads 30. Each of said holes has connnuxzicating with it a heyhole slot in the end of which thc head of a tube Q9 may rest. After the tirst row of bottles has been filled and the ends of the filling tubes raised above the case, this latter is moved forward an amount exactly equal to the distance between successive rows of bottles, by depressing' the treadie '18, which through the link 19, tirst turns the pawl 15 on its pivot so that it comes into engagement with the ratchet bar 12 and thereafter draws said pawl with its supporting block 1G forwardly on the guide bar 1T. In View of the position of thel foremost of the two notches tt, the paw,l almost as soon as it is moved forward, engages said notch and thereafter carries forward with it the ratchet bar 12, the head 9, and arms 10 and 1l, thus pushing forwardly the case X.

'lhe possible movement of the treadle 18 is so limited that when the pawl 15 has been moved forward to its full extent, the second line of bottles is immediately under the line of fillingr tubes, which may then be operated as before described to till and subsequently block being returned to the normal position shown in Fig. 3, under the action of the spring 21. Another depression of the treadle 18 causes the pawl to engage the second one of the teethy 14; and again move forward the ratchet bar .12 with the case.X so as to briner the third line of bottles into position for filling.

When it is desired that the machine shall operate to lill pint bottles, the ratchet bar 12 is turned 180o in its bearings so as to bring the notches 14 into their lowestposition, and it is to be noted that there are three of said notches provided so that it Inay be impossible to move forward'the bottle case three times, since, under present commercial conditions, pint bottles are usually handled in cases which contain four rows of four each. ln addition to this, the structure including the slideways or guides 7, is lifted upwardly and then to the rear into its raised position upon the links (i, which then occupy vertical positions instead of the horizontal positions shown in Figs. l, 3, and 6; the catches 7d retaining the parts in this adjusted position. The machine is now in condition to receive eases containing pint bottles; since thi arvrangemcnt and construction of the parts is such that when the shdeways t are raised, the. pint bottles are supported at a height such that the before described operation of the filling tubes and their valves causes these to coperat'e with and properly till smaller sized bottles in the same way in which they previously filled bottles of larger size.

lt is of course immaterial how many lilling tubes be employed, since the machine will operate in the same, manner regardless of whether a single tube be employed or whether a number ol' rows of tubes are used. There may also be any required number or arrangement of notches in the rack bar 12 so as to permit cases having ditl'erent nmnbers of rows of bottles to be operated on.

From the above it will be appreciated that our machine may be operated with the expenditure of but relatively little energy, since. thework required -from the operator is merely that necessary to raise and govern the loweringl ofthe various filling tubes and to slide the bottle containing case on the guides 7. hloreover the filling!` tubes are oi the utmost simplicity of construrtitiu and may be readily taken ont ol the machine for cleaning, for which purpose it is only necessary to remove\the pins 31b and the lockiny,r bar 31, after'which the 'arious rods QS) may be disengaged from the slots in the cross bar 31 or may be otherwise released therefrom. Each disengaged rod may then be taken from the apparatus with its valve, the spring 27, and the Atube 24. Moreover, it will -be noted that the various parts of the machine are so constructed that they may be substantially made and they are so combined that there is but small likelihood of the device getting out of order or requiring anyV but the most infrequent attention.

When the machine is used exclusively for filling bottles of one size, we Inay use the construction of filling tube shown in Fig. 12 in which the soft rubber washer 26a -is so formed as to enter the mouth of the bottle and rest upon the cap seat, thus making a tight joint even if the top of the bottle is irregular or nicked.

It is to be noted that the improved means for feeding forward the bottle holder or case so as to'bring successive bottles or rows of bot-tles under the filling tubes, is by no means limited in its application to filling machines in which said holder has no v ertical reciprocation as shown in the drawings', for it is especially valuable and'may be eml ployed without change in that class of bottle filling machines in which the holder is moved upwardly in order to bring the bottles into communication with the filling tubes.

yAs illustrated in Fig. 12, the valve 2S is formed by tWo members 28 and 28b both preferably substantially conical in form and mounted base to base, with a soft rubber washer 28C between them. This washer is so proportioned as to engage or seat upon the lower edge of the tube 24, under the action of the spring 27. -1

lVe claim;`- f

1. The combination of la supporting frame; a case carrying structure having links connecting it to the frame in positions to ermit of its being raised and lowered thereon; bottle filling means on the frame; and a device for actuating said filling means to bring the Same in operative position relatively to the bottles in a case on said structure.

2. The combination of a supportingframe; a case carryii'ig structure having links connecting it tothe frame to permit of its being raised or lowered thereon; bottle lilling means on the frame; a device for actuating said filling means to bring the sameinto operative position relative to bottles in aaease on said structure; with means for holding the case-carrying structure in its raised position.

- The combination in a bottle filling machine of a `frame; a series of bottle filling tubes connected to a source of liquid rsupply; ineans for supporting a bottle case dec u I signed to hold a number of series of bot-l mounted in the tank; a valve for normally preventing flow of liquid through the tube; an operating rod for said valve extending therefrom into the tank; with operating means including a bar having a slot opening on one of its edgesV for detachably receiving the upper end of said rod.

5. The combination in a bottle filling machine of a supporting structure; a tank mounted thereon; a series of filling tubes mounted in said tank; a valve for each tube; a series of operating rods'respectively attached to said valves; and actuating means for said rods including a bar having slots each open at its edge for removably I receiving the operating rods.

6. The combination in a bottle filling machine of a supporting structure; a tank thereon; a filling tube mounted in the bottom of the tank and consisting of two telescoping sections; a bottle engaging member on one of the sections; means normally tending to move the sections relatively to each other; a valve normally closing the lower end of one of the sections; an operating rod for the valveconsisting of a pipe extending through the filling tube and having a permanently attached head capable of being withdrawn through the said tube; a member detachably engaging said head; and means connected to said membr for operating said valve through the medium of said pipe. i

-7. The combination of a supporting frame; a guideway thereon for a bottle supporting the pawl so that it is free to move 1n a line parallel with the pusher bar; and means for causing said pawl to engage 'the pusher bar and then to move bodily.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification, in the presence ot'v two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED F. WOOD.

ALFRED G. STEER.

lVitncsscs (ino. R. MELONEY, M. B. MoHnNnr:l 

